From Where I Stand
by oasismissus
Summary: A series of vignettes across 17 years showing two people's journey of innocence lost and salvation found.


AN: Hello, everyone. So this story is my baby, it's my first ever so I hope to god I did alright. I'd like to thank the following lovely ladies for their help; Chalayne, Mrs. Ren and Christina. You guys are the best. All mistakes are mine because I'm an idiot. These ladies did an awesome job as betas. Aaand without further ado, I present to you..this thing I made. Enjoy! PS. I rated it M for the swearing and mentions of torture. Just to be safe. PPS: Shout out to Bex-chan for being an amazing writer and inspiring me to do this. The last part of my fic was also inspired by her story Graveyard Valentine. I don't know if she'll ever get the chance to read this but if she does I just wanna say thank you and you're a rockstar. xxx

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October 15 1991

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizadry

4:30 pm

...

"I'll trade you Daley H. Walsh for Markus Bjornsson." said a tiny blond boy

"Are you mad?" said another little boy with a slim face and dark hair

"Im not giving you Bjornsson, Malfoy. He's a limited-edition! Only ten copies were made after the Quidditch World Cup of 1964! Unlike bloody Walsh which I've got about a hundred of."

11-year old Draco Malfoy huffed and sneered not used to getting denied. "Fine then!He's not that great a card anyway."

The two First Years were huddled under the bleachers of the Hogwarts' quidditch pitch along with three other Slytherin boys. There was a serious swap of Quidditch Trading cards going on and although technically not against school rules as there were no galleons being exchange they still liked being hidden under the bleachers and feeling naughty as young children are wont to do.

"The muggle-born isn't doing horrible at Charms it seems." came the quiet, steady voice of Blaise Zabini who stood peering through the spaces in between the wooden beams that supported the bleachers. He was looking at a young Gryffindor girl who was practicing out on the big field. Open space was just practical for performing new magic and the young girl was nothing if not practical.

Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe snorted at that at the exact same time which wasn't surprising to Draco as he had a feeling they shared the same brain from the moment he met the two boys.

"What's the little mudblood doing now, Zabini?" the young Malfoy asked sounding almost bored.

"She's trying to do a shield charm, I think. I hear even the Third Years are having trouble with it."

Intrigued, Draco stood up to peer into the tiny crack the beams offered and heard Goyle and Crabbe shuffle to do the same on either side of him.

"Don't be so impressed" the young blond declared haughtily "Father says they're no better than house elves. Their blood is filthy and their magic is undeserved. They don't belong in our world." It was the speech his father gave him before leaving for Hogwarts and he remembered every word.

What he didn't understand though was _why_ Muggle-borns were unworthy of their magic. They certainly didn't look any different than any witch or wizard he's seen. The girl was even kind of pretty- bucktooth and all. Plus, Zabini was right. She _was_ getting the hang of the spell, loathed as he was to admit.

 _'They just are'_ _he thought_ _'Father says they are'_

"MERLIN'S SAGGY BALLS!" all four boys jumped- startled from their quiet observance of Hermione Granger.

"Oi! You lot! C'mere!" the high pitched voice of Theodore Nott rang through the air.`

They turned around to see him grinning ear to ear, waving a card in the air maniacally "I've got Roger O'Riley! I've finally got him! He's a rare '85!" He said excitedly.

The young Slytherins crowded over him and began talking over one another hoping to strike a lucky deal for the rare card. Just like that all talk of blood prejudice was gone and the boys were just boys again trading cards before the school bell rang for supper and Draco Malfoy wasn't one bit concerned about the muggle born girl.

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* * *

Yule Ball 1994

Hogwarts Great Hall

8:15 pm

...

All anyone at Hogwarts could talk about for the last few days was the Ball. Draco Malfoy thanked Merlin and Morgana for finally letting the day come because if he heard one more person yap about it he would hex them to another dimension.

He looks on at the couples walking down the Grand Staircase and wished he hadn't listened to Pansy and came much later. He would've had time to swipe a bottle of Ogden's Finest from the kitchens and sneak it past the Professors.

"I need a drink. This Ball is wretched."

Pansy let out a short, sharp laugh "As if your mother ever let you have any during your family balls."

Draco turned to face her "Au contraire, Pansy. Father lets me have a glass or two. Says it's befitting of a gentleman to acquaint himself with different liquors and spirits. Mother objects, of course, says I'm too young."

He looked at his fellow Slytherin properly for the first time that night. Her royal blue gown made her eyes pop and her skin look like milk. Her short jet black hair was styled with a soft wave at the tips which softened any sharp features that her usual straight hair emphasized. The striking make up she wore didn't hurt either.

"You look lovely, by the way." he said nonchalantly. As pretty as she could be Pansy would always be the girl he rolled around on the grass with when they were kids and their parents met for tea.

"I know." she replies with a wink and a cheshire grin.

Draco chuckled "Afraid I cant say the same for Scar head and Weasel though. Those two deserve each other, truly." As he looked across the hall to the two boys who seemed like they were drowning in the ruffles of their suits.

"If that's what 2/3 of the bloody Golden Trio look like I can't imagine how Granger's gonna look any worse." he adds with a smirk.

"Well, speak of the devil.." Pansy says under her breath.

Draco looks back to the grand staircase not knowing what to expect of Gryffindor's Golden Girl. He half thought she'd show up in her baggy muggle clothes just because. Apparently, he thought wrong.

Hermione Granger was walking down the stairs on the arm of Viktor Krum looking like a vision. Draco was absolutely certain that the girl in the soft pink gown was not the girl he saw in class every day. It must be Polyjuice, he thought or some type of spell. It had to be. But he knew, in his heart of hearts, that the vision was Granger.

Tonight, she was positively radiant. Her wild hair was tamed just a bit for for the occasion but rebellious little ringlets still managed to escape her elegant bun framing her tiny heart shaped face perfectly. The cherry red stain on her lips was tempting even from far away. Draco thought she looked like a rose in bloom and he hated himself for it.

She looked away from her date just long enough for her to turn around and catch his eye. Draco felt his cheeks flush. He cleared his throat and forced himself to look away.

He didnt want to think about how absolutely breath taking Granger was tonight.

Sure, she was brilliant -that much he had begrudgingly admitted to himself and no one else. But aside from him ignorantly thinking she was pretty when he was eleven, he's never really looked at her since then to notice; had never allowed himself to. In his world, it was a sin to associate with muggle borns, let alone find one attractive. His father would rather choke on gillyweed than to claim a son who fraternized with the unworthy.

He took another subtle glance in her direction to make sure he wasnt seeing things. It was a bad idea. Now she was smiling and laughing with her other Gyffindork friends making her look more beautiful to Draco's absolute horror. The young Slytherin had had enough of the confusion roiling in his gut. He cleared his throat again and turned to his date with a mask of casual indifference on his face.

"I _really_ need a bloody drink, Pans. And fast."

Pansy Parkinson fixed him with a knowing look in her eyes, shook her head and let out a tinkling laugh as she walked away.

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* * *

December 2 1996

Hogwarts Library

5:00 pm

...

The library in the late afternoon was mostly deserted and blissfully quiet. Hermione Granger could not ask for more. It was the perfect time and the perfect place to catch up on her reading.

Harry had been having painful visions lately so she promised to find out as much as she could about them. She was never one to jump blindly into conclusions, that was more Harry's department, but the witch also felt something in the air. As if something big was about to happen and they were all standing on the precipice of it. Hermione shook her head to clear away the heavy thoughts.

"Silly. Absolutely silly." She whispered to herself.

As a frequent (and sometimes the only) visitor of the Library, Hermione had a seat. Her seat. It was a soft, plush velvet chair in a small corner tucked between two towering shelves in the Magical & Medicinal Herbs Section. It was right across a great big stained glass window which bore an image of what she could only assume was the great founder Rowena Ravenclaw. When the afternoon sun hit it just right it would bathe her little corner of paradise in a brilliant display of colors. That was why Hermione loved it so. She was well aware it really wasn't hers to claim as anyone could come in the library and take any seat they please but most of the students didn't bother to come here anyway so she started thinking of it as her seat.

She rounded the corner and stopped herself so fast she almost fell flat on her face.

Someone was in her chair. Someone was sleeping in her chair. Someone she very well knew was named Draco Malfoy. She was surprised, to say the least, at finding him in the library. She knew the boy was bright as he wasnt far behind her in academic marks but she's just never seen him in here, much less in her spot. Hermione walked over quietly not wanting to wake the blond before she was ready to face him.

He had kept to himself this school year. This boy who once reveled in the undivided attention of his peers was skulking the halls of Hogwarts like a ghost. The smirk that was always on his face had been replaced by a tight line and guarded eyes. Hermione never concerned herself with the Slytherin but it was hard not to notice the changes in the young man. Malfoy was never far behind her in grades, it was that very fact which pushed her to always give it her all at Hogwarts. She wanted him to understand that her background, her blood had no effect on her ability to do magic, a fact he was always trying to disprove. But lately his grades were slipping. Even in Potions where he had an unfair advantage of being Snape's favorite, he was getting below average marks. Draco Malfoy made it clear that he couldn't be bothered to care about anything anymore so Hermione didn't understand why he walked around like he bore the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Looking at his sleeping form she was suddenly struck by a memory of seeing the blond boy unconscious in the school infirmary. He was recovering after Harry struck him with a curse he had found in a mysterious old book during a confrontation in the girl's bathroom. She remembered being so disappointed in her friend for using such a suspicious spell, even if it was on a right git like Malfoy, she had expected more from Harry.

On his big white hospital bed, Malfoy had looked broken and small. It was a pitiful sight. She almost threw caution to the wind and sat guard for the Slytherin. Almost.

Hermione was snapped out her reverie when he started muttering.

"No..please..not me.. I cant.."

She froze thinking Malfoy had woken up. When a few seconds passed without incident Hermione let out a small breath of relief. Even Slytherin princes werent immune to the occasional nightmare it seemed.

"Malfoy." She shook him gently.

"Malfoy, wake up" She said with a little more force.

Draco Malfoy opened his eyes slowly, irritated at being woken up from the only good sleep he's had in weeks. He immediately recognized the bossy voice telling him to get up.

"Go away, Granger." He said in a voice thick with sleep. Draco turned on his side, away from Hermione and burrowed himself deeper into the chair.

"No, I will not go away. I want my seat!" Hermione bit back in a hiss.

Her demand was met with silence

"Malfoy I swear-"

"Oh for Merlin's sake! Can't you just shut up and let a man have his peace for once?! I haven't had any bloody sleep in days and I feel like I'm losing my bloody mind. The last thing I need is an argument about this blasted chair so leave me the fuck alone, you infuriating witch!"

Draco didn't remember getting up from the chair but now he was standing face to face with Granger huffing and puffing like a man possessed.

Hermione was stunned into silence. He was only about five inches from her face and the frozen seconds of tension allowed her to study him. His usual piercing gray eyes looked dull and bloodshot. There were deep, dark bags under them that stood out in contrast to his skin which was paler than normal and quite sallow. His hair was sticking up in every direction. His tie was askew and the rest of his clothes were rumpled. He looked like he came from hell and back which she guessed wasn't far from the truth.

"Silence please!" Came the barely contained hiss of Madam Pince.

It snapped the two students back to the present and Hermione recovered first.

"Alright." She said simply.

"..alright?" Draco asked not quite believing.

"Yes. Alright. You can have my seat..for today."

Draco didn't know what to say. It was a pleasant shock to have her yield so easily. The girl could be as stubborn as a bull.

"Bloody great then." He muttered under his breath.

Hermione settled in the seat across from him as he tried to get comfortable in the infernal chair that was the reason for his interrupted sleep.

A few seconds ticked by and Hermione looked up from the book she was reading.

"You spoke in your sleep, you know. I think you might've had a nightmare." She said softly.

Draco turned to her with a defeated look and didn't say anything for the longest time.

He let out a deep sigh. "What would you know about nightmares, Granger. You're not surrounded by monsters."

It was Hermione's turn to be quiet. She wasn't surrounded by monsters, that was true. She had family and friends who would fight the monsters he talked about should she ask them to and she had a feeling that was more than he could say for himself. She saw that Malfoy had already turned his back on her and curled up to sleep again. She stared at him for a few moments and made up her mind. Without waiting for a chance to doubt herself, she held her wand and pointed it at her quill transfiguring it into a thin wool blanket. Hermione levitated it to land on Malfoy thinking he was already fast asleep.

Draco felt the warmth encompass him and opened his eyes to see the blanket. He tensed realizing Granger had given him a blanket. Transfigured one really but it didn't matter. He was grateful but unsure how to show it, he had little practice in basic human decency.

"..Thank you" He said almost in a whisper.

"You're welcome" came the equally quiet reply.

Nothing more was said that afternoon as the last of the sun's rays showered rainbows through the colorful stained-glass window as a young witch and wizard shared a corner of the library in an easy, fragile alliance.

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* * *

August 24 2007

Wizarding Cemetery, Somewhere in Great Britain

4:30 pm

...

Draco walked up the winding path of the cemetery. He tucked his hand into the pockets of his robe and felt the cool wind bite at his cheeks. He looked around for the grave he was meant to visit and his eyes landed on a pair of white, marble gravestones. He knew from his Mother, who had come to visit once, that both stones had an animal figure intricately carved on the marble surface. The one he was here for had a jack rabbit and the one next to it had a wolf.

He stopped a few feet away from the gravestones when he saw someone else was already there. A woman with her back to him stood holding a bouquet of sunflowers. She was petite with medium length dark brown hair that fell in waves. Her forest green coat looked almost too big for her small frame. He decided to wait patiently for her to finish a safe distance away. In the silence of the moment, Draco allowed himself to observe every inch of her. It had been ages since he last saw Hermione Granger but it felt almost like they were back in Hogwarts again.

Her hair wasn't the wild mess it was when they were kids but he could still see little wisps escaping her loose ponytail. She stood tall and proud but there was a slight hunch to her shoulders, whether she was weary or upset Draco couldn't tell. So lost was he in his study of the former Gryffindor that he didn't notice the light drizzle that began to fall, only when she looked up to the sky and he followed suit did he realize the change in weather. In a hurry, he fished out a tiny muggle umbrella from his pocket, it was shrunken of course to fit in his robes whenever he went out. Blaise had moved to muggle London a few years back and he visited his friend often enough that he had come to rely on the handy muggle device. He couldn't possibly be seen under an Umbrella Charm in a neighborhood of muggles now could he? the irony of him relying on something so inherently muggle being the bigot he once wasn't lost on him either. His prejudice had left him before the war even ended and it amused him to think of what his Father would say if he could see him with his trusty umbrella. He could almost hear Lucius screaming from beyond the Veil.

With that thought in mind, he marched up to the witch with his umbrella, careful to keep a good few inches between them should she decide to hex him for the intrusion. Her head snapped up, surprised at suddenly being shielded from the rain. Her face was a mixture of shock and disbelief but she quickly schooled her features into something unreadable.

"What are you doing here?" Her eyes were hard but her voice betrayed no emotion.

Hermione hadn't seen him since his trial years ago where he looked gaunt and lifeless. The man in front of her now had been sobered by war and stood with a sincerity she didnt expect.

"I've come to pay my respects. She was my cousin." Draco answered politely.

The corners of her mouth pulled into a frown. "Well, you're almost ten years too late."

"I know." It comes out as a sigh. "I've always been a little late to things, haven't I?" He replied quietly as if she wasn't meant to hear it.

Hermione felt her icy demeanor thaw a little bit with Malfoy's honesty. "Well, better late than never I guess" she said almost to herself. "Today was her birthday." She said a bit louder.

Draco looked up, surprised and a tad regretful. "Oh..I didn't know. I would've brought something if..." he fumbled awkwardly.

Hermione let out an undignified little snort "It's not like she would've been able to enjoy it, Malfoy. Trust me, that's what she would've said."

The wizard felt appeased but still didn't reply. He didn't know what to say to both Granger and his cousin, whom he fully expected to be left alone with once Granger was done with her comments. Draco Malfoy had grown up in the years following the war. His tongue once quick to insult if he was uncomfortable or bored had now been tempered by his experiences.

Words, he had realized much too late, could wound a person as much as a Dark Curse.

Sometimes more, he thought as an unbidden memory of Granger on the floor of his childhood home writhing in pain as his deranged aunt carved the ultimate slur on her arm burned in his mind. What followed was a barrage of memories of all the hurtful things he's said to the woman before him. It was years ago but the shame he felt was fresh.

Hermione saw the storm brewing in Draco Malfoy's eyes. He looked like he would drown in his self pity and anger if she didn't reach out to pull him up from the dark waters of his past. "For what it's worth, Malfoy. She would've appreciated your effort."

Draco could only nod, standing like he was made of stone.

Hermione sighed. There was nothing she could say for now. She thought back to the day spent in silence at the library a thousand life times ago and it eased some of the tension she felt.

Several minutes tick by before the young wizard broke the silence "Grang-..uh, Hermione."

The witch was startled by the use of her first name and answered too quickly. "Yes?"

"Hermione..I know it may not mean much after all these years but I just wanted to apologize for..everything. I was late, as I said, to being brave.. I was much too late. And I wish with whatever's left of my heart that I could've done things differently. I am truly.. sorry. I don't expect your forgiveness nor do I deserve it but I thought you should have my apology all the same." He offered in a quiet voice.

A few moments of stunned silence ticked by and he thought that was all the answer he would get.

"We were so young." She said it so sadly Draco felt it in his bones. It was true, they were only children fighting a war against the monsters from their nightmares.

The witch turned to him with unshed tears in her eyes from her memories of friends lost and wounds suffered. "I forgive you" she whispered. "You had no choice, Draco. You were trapped like the rest of us, only on the other side. It took me a long time to understand that, you know."

The young wizard felt a blanket of peace wash over him with those words. He didn't think redemption would come in the form of Hermione Granger. She took his hand and squeezed it hard, communicating all the emotions her words were inadequate to express. She felt him wrap his fingers around hers and he held on tight as if she was his life line. It was much too soon when she let go but Draco cherished the warm feeling that was imprinted in his palm.

The pair stood side by side in front of the grave of two war heroes and paid their respects. Eventually the rain stopped and the sun started to sink lower in to the horizon and the young couple decided it was enough for today. They walked silently, side by side still to the gated exit. When they got to it the two realized they were at a stale mate. What happens now they both wondered.

"Hermione." He said almost hesitantly. "I'd like to know more about Nymphadora if you dont mind. I was hoping you could tell me about her."

"Well for one, she hated being called Nymphadora." She said with a small smile.

"Oh.."

The young woman laughed at his reaction and it felt cathartic. "I saw a small cafe on my way here. What do you say I tell you about Tonks over coffee?"

He felt the corners of his mouth pull up a wry smile at her suggestion.

"I'd like that."

And Hermione thought she did too.

It was a cool afternoon in August when Draco Malfoy felt lighter than he had in 10 years.

FIN


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